Oregon and education: Pass the irony, I see another school bill coming

Teacher Meagan Jones (right) will lose her job at the end of the year because of budget cuts in the Gresham-Barlow School District. Things are rough in Oregon schools, yet the state Legislature may choose to favor unfunded mandates and symbolic gestures over meaningful change. Photo by Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian

Rep. Jason Conger, R-Bend, is a lawyer by profession and a newcomer to the Oregon Legislature, so he asks a ton of questions. He points out inconsistencies. He puzzles over things that don't make sense when applied to real life.

He may drop those newbie habits soon enough. For now, it's refreshing to hear someone acknowledge the yawning gap between the schools we have and the schools we pretend to have.

None of these bills has a funding source. All three are laughable when put into context: Oregon schools receive less state funding now than they did in 2007, they're at the mercy of the state's legendary budget volatility and their bills to feed the pension fund are mushrooming. Also, many lawmakers seem skittish about the reforms that would best address such problems.

Yet politically, the feel-good bills are almost irresistible. Who could possibly oppose full-day kindergarten or more instructional time in a state that neglects both? Who wouldn't want middle schoolers to learn more about this magical place called Oregon? How do you vote against anyone's dreams?

That leaves people like Conger to gum up the works with pesky observations, as he did last week during a public hearing on Senate Bill 244, which urges an increase in instructional time.

"Increased over what?" he asked. "I get it. It's aspirational. But again, there's no limit. ... It's great that we set these goals, to say, gee, we should have year-round schools, or longer school days, or whatever it is. The problem is, we don't have a funding structure."

The Harvard-educated newbie continued: "In fact, my understanding is that many, or most, or maybe all school districts are going the other way. They're shortening their school years. I find that a little bit ironic."

Most parents and teachers might choose a word stronger than "ironic," such as an expletive. However, simply having a state legislator acknowledge the absurdity is appreciated.

To be fair, the bill about instructional time does have a legitimate rationale. It's intended to position Oregon for federal grants for after-school programs and other extended-day opportunities. (Many Oregon districts have no chance of securing such a grant, since they've either slashed days or chopped instructional hours in ways the feds would notice, but hey, some lucky dog could win.) The bills about full-day kindergarten and state history are similarly worthy, in principle.

But I'm starting to notice a pattern here. The education bills involving unfunded mandates and hollow symbolism tend to sail toward victory. The hard stuff gets stuck in committee. In both parties, the same lawmakers who'll stand up boldly for (the idea of) better schools will undercut them in reality by dodging pension reform, corrections reform, ESD reform, kicker reform, capital-gains reform and health-care reform.

"We leave schools with no choice but to cut the school year, then we turn around and tell them to increase instructional time," Conger said in an interview Friday from Bend. "It's worse than ironic. It's hypocritical."

As I said, the guy's a newcomer. Hard to know what kind of legislator he'll be. But last week, while schools cut their budgets and voters showed their breaking points, he sounded like the sanest person in Salem.